Alas, Kinect Star Wars as a package is a mixed, if varied bag of motion tricks. For everything that works well, something else ruins the experience.

It's really difficult to give Moon Chronicles a strong appraisal one way or the other. It's far from a stellar experience, but isn't a bad one either. There just isn't anything here that hasn't been done better elsewhere, and I can't see anyone other than FPS-starved 3DS owners or hardcore fans of the original being too interested.

Tower Wars is completely functional and full of spirit; however, lack of a single-player mode and unruly queue times will likely leave many gamers unfulfilled.

Tools Up doesn't make the most of its clever co-op gaming concept, but I still had a decent enough time. I'll be there day one if a sequel ever takes this home-renovation hook and runs wild with it.

Unfortunately, Lost Song stumbles hardest when trying to engage players outside that sphere of pre-existing investment, and in some ways ends up an even less suitable jumping-off point for newbies who want to get in on enjoying the franchise.

Ultimately, the rising popularity of DLC exposes what a shoddy business model Koei has with these expansions, and while there's still a lot of fun to be had for hack 'n slash fans, it's getting beyond the point where products like this have a place in the industry.

When the FPS isn’t dipping, and bosses aren’t cheesing you every step of the way, LotF feels good. But with myriad performance issues, broken multiplayer, and boss fights that increase difficulty through unfair mechanics as opposed to well-developed ones, it really weighs down on the experience. Lords of the Fallen is indeed a Soulslike. And for some, that’s all they need. But be prepared for a challenge to complete the journey, and not in a good way.

Pirate Queen's Quest is a fun addition to Half-Genie Hero, and fans like myself will enjoy seeing the story from the other side of the moral thermometer. I'm convinced all Shantae fans will be grabbing this update anyway. But be aware at what you're getting for your money: an opportunity to play through the same game, with a cool new sprite and some very minor alterations.

I had a fairly good time with Bleach: Soul Resurreccion. I never really knew what was going on in the story, and the button mashing destroyed my hands, but it was an enjoyable, mindless romp in a really pretty anime world.

A neat little package. It knows what it wants to do and it does most of it well enough, but it might not excite people who don't share the same nostalgia for the specific childhood experience described within it.

I can really get lost in the world of Let it Die, and I think I'll be playing it off and on for the next several weeks at the very least. It begs you to come back, and given the platform in which it's been distributed, it's something that can easily evolve into a better game in the future.

Mon Amour, as seen on the box, is fine. It even has that sometimes annoying “one more turn” addictiveness. That doesn’t last long, and beneath that, there’s nothing to sink your teeth into. It’s the Taco Bell of Onion Games. It’s tastes like food, it’s inoffensive, but once you dig in, you won’t find any real meat.

Despite being entertaining in its own way, The Starship Damrey ultimately fails to provide a hardcore, old-school adventure as promised. There's potential for an even more expansive campaign, which I hope Level-5 explores one day -- if Liberation Maiden can get a sequel, so can this! For now, rein in your expectations.

Fallen Angel is a much better effort than Broken Eagle, but the Lost Chapter DLC saga still isn't quite there, and certainly hasn't justified the Season Pass cost yet. It needs a lot more pizzazz to really rise to the bar that the core game set, and I hope Capcom follows through with the remaining two chapters.

It reaches high and attempts to accomplish something not many games have even tried to this day, which should be commended. But right now, it needs a few more major updates before it gets there. With a hefty amount of microtransactions that border on offensive, there is a very ambitious, competitive game underneath the sloppy veneer.

Nihilumbra is a quick diversion for these who need a puzzle-platformer in their gaming lives and have ran out of things to do on the PS Vita.

Still, if you aren't keen on zombies (and many of you aren't, after nearly 10 years of it), you can probably stay away from Descent.

The Pact is a fair episode, with some familiar faces and a couple of great scenes. But due to its odd plotting, overbooked roster, and distracting technical flaws, it didn't suck me in like the previous chapter did. Still, outside of the horrible lock-up issues, it was an acceptable way to while away two hours. I'm intrigued to see where the story goes next.

A worthy experience, but it's lacking in too many minor areas to achieve greatness. While the voice-controlled strategy gameplay is engaging, it does lead to some design hiccups. While the narrative is entertaining and even intellectually demanding at times, it just as easily falls into navel-gazing jargon. While the technology is impressive, it feels like it belongs in a much bigger game.

I have mixed feelings about Midnight Fight Express. There are times when it clicked with me, and I tore through the levels, and others when I found myself sighing and hitting the retry button. There was no real middle ground. I was either entertained or completely annoyed.

Castlevania: Harmony of Despair looks gorgeous and has some cool ideas, but ultimate it feels like Castlevania Lite -- a stripped down version of a real Castlevania game with none of the depth or clever design.

This is a game I was so ready to fall in love with, but it ultimately comes up short. After a couple of hours, I began to wonder, "Is this it? Dinosaur planet sight-seeing?" Basically, yeah. And at its high price point, that's going to be a tough sell.

There is nothing fundamentally wrong with The Gunk. It works from a technical standpoint and it isn’t the worst way you can spend about five hours of your time. But I just can’t muster up any sort of authentic excitement about it. If it were funnier or cleverer or more challenging, I could maybe start to see it as a title I could recommend. But as it is, the best I can do is pay it that slightly backhanded compliment of saying it’s perfect for Game Pass.

It's a neat distraction for puzzle enthusiasts, but it won't be setting the world on fire.

Despite owing a lot to Hotline Miami in terms of sight and sound, Party Hard is almost the antithesis of its most obvious influence. On a personal note, it's actually more reminiscent of How to be a Complete Bastard, a similar (and ancient) game involving house parties and a destructive protagonist.

Chaos;Child is almost comically long, and not all of this length felt deserved. That's a real shame because the main mystery was quite engaging.

The Mage's Tale represents an early experiment for VR RPGs -- a minor milestone. There's still a long way to go until people are "jacked-in" for hours at a time a la Sword Art Online, but with projects like this leading the way we'll get there sooner than later.

It has been a long time since I've played a game so self-aware of its own flaws, yet so proud to embrace, even celebrate them.

I just don’t think Dredge is all that it could be. While the sea-harvesting foundation is solid and well thought out, nothing else around it has much depth. There’s a dearth of imagination surrounding it, which I found disappointing. The plot is lifeless, the gameplay is one-note, and it never really picks up speed. However, if you want a more relaxing take on horror, Dredge might be worth hauling up from the depths.

Cloudberry Kingdom is a strong effort, but the lack of overall polish is impossible to overlook.

Gundam Versus is great gameplay hampered by the content, or lack thereof, meant to support it. A solid roster is brought down by questionable absences, while the offline content lacks the kind of replayability that an arcade mode would have.

There is simply not enough meat on the core game modes, seemingly in favor of adding in a hodgepodge of concepts that are isolated from one another. It's time to give up the vehicle concept, Nd Cube, as it inherently limits the sprawling nature of the maps we once played for years on end.

Remember Me is a game that is, to be quite fair, thoroughly up its own arse, a game where simplicity is dressed in shallow complexity, and meaning is an illusion created by carefully constructed gibberish...Strangely, though, it's not bad. It's infuriatingly full of itself, but there's fun to be had through the density of the smugness.

VR needs more than Damaged Core. It's a good thing to add on top of the pile for people who are already fully invested, but as what essentially amounts to a novelty XBLA game, the asking price is a tad high. [Tested with Oculus Rift]

Arizona Sunshine could be so much more than it is. It's an overly linear game with few if any surprising moments, zombies that don't behave in particularly interesting ways, and a story that accomplishes the bare minimum to keep you moving from point to point. It's middling.

Blowout Blast is another game I'll stuff in the "Kirby" folder on my 3DS, occasionally going back to it when I have a few moments to spare.

The shift to third-person shooter is a novel idea, but soon becomes unbearable.

We've seen Ubisoft snatch victory from the jaws of "somewhat underwhelming" before: maybe they can do it again.

Sadly, while remaining quite fun, the end product is a severely problematic and ultimately shallow exercise that covers familiar territory. While it would make a fairly worthwhile holiday game for the kids, the true potential of the game is tragically unrealized, and those looking for that elusively meaty PS Move title will come away disappointed.

For your seven bucks, you get an extra hour of content that adds a new layer of mystery to the Dead Space universe and a rather shocking ending that would've been compelling if the campaign had been long enough to build up any emotional ties.

There's just not enough here for entice anyone to double-dip or shell out the full price if you aren't a sim-junkie. While the publisher should be chided for releasing an iteration as rushed as this, they are lucky that the core package was already decent to begin with.

For your seven bucks, you get an extra hour of content that adds a new layer of mystery to the Dead Space universe and a rather shocking ending that would've been compelling if the campaign had been long enough to build up any emotional ties.

If you are a huge RPG fan and need something to play on the go, there are frankly better titles out there, but if you've played all those, Ash will sort you out.

There might be something special to World of Tanks, but it's not something that's immediately apparent; it's something that only shows itself after a significant investment. The gameplay can be rewarding at times, but most won't have the patience (or the money) to ever get to that point.

If the game had an engaging story and actually felt more like a "game" than a procedural chore, I would have been committed to finishing it properly. Instead Rainbow Moon offers you the gameplay you love, with none of the charm or interest.

The Sims 4 has room to grow, but right now you're better off continuing to play its predecessor. While certain features were axed in the name of progress, those features were a large reason why many have come to love the series in the first place.

As you may have heard, The Order is also short. How short? Well, on normal or hard difficulty it should take the average gamer roughly seven hours to complete it -- a little less if you rush through and don't explore any other hallways, a little more if you check every inch. While the length doesn't bother me on principle, keep in mind that there's very little in the way of replay value, and there's no multiplayer -- not even co-op -- to speak of.

Most frustratingly, Sister Location leaves its fans clutching at the same straws the last two games have. It ends asking the same questions as always - why are the machines evil (or are they just misunderstood), what is the nature of the Freddy's curse, and how exactly does this particular entry fit into the series' larger story and timeline and on and on.

It's a very casual puzzle-like game that can slowly sneak up on you with a hidden complexity. It will not be fun for all players and even fans of the puzzle genre may be left scratching their heads.

Vault-Tec Workshop has comparatively modest aims. It isn't as wild as Contraptions, but offers more than Wasteland did. Creating a vault shelter might not be as flashy as taming Deathclaws or setting up factory lines to move scrap around, but the appeal is much more apparent and lasting.

Clickolding really needed to nail its narrative to be a successful experiment, and it really doesn’t. It’s much too unfocused and far too superficial, never really drilling far into its subject matter. There were a lot of directions that could have been taken, and none of them were. That doesn’t mean that Clickolding doesn’t have value, but it’s not something that needs to be experienced. You could get the same pleasure from just watching.

Gal*Gun Returns is a pretty decent remaster of a so-so game barring a few issues. I don't think anybody is going to walk away from it arguing it's the best in the series, but it's worthwhile for fans who've wanted to see where this franchise got its start. And if you're anything like me, it'll make you appreciate what's come after it all the more.

t's just a shame that, where the Wii version is concerned, bustin' didn't make me feel good.

Very disappointing. Lacking the sense of adventure of the previous games and making the most simple of elements more awkward and overdrawn, Fable III feels like a step back for the franchise. It's a shame because its narrative goals are truly outstanding and there's still a lot of simplistic roleplaying fun to be had. These positives are outweighed, however, by a downsized sense of scale, cumbersome attempts at innovation, and a total neglect when it comes to fixing some important problems.

If you're a die-hard Chibi-Robo! fan, or if the possibility of having to replay the same levels over and over again doesn't bother you too much, then Zip Lash might be for you. Unfortunately, it's tough for me to give this game a good recommendation after the frustrating time I had with it. I still love you, Chibi-Robo, but this was not your best effort!

Feral Rites ends up coming across as a budget Bloody Roar beat-'em-up that's not actually budget priced and clocks in around 10 hours. If it was multiplayer (another base issue with VR) and had a more encapsulating setting, I would be more on board with it. The cartoony, arcade brawler subgenre isn't as prevalent as it once was, and I saw flashes of classics like Fighting Force in this project that brought a fleeting smile to my face. [Tested with Oculus Rift]

Speaking as a fan of Dead Space, I feel I could skip Awakened and miss absolutely nothing of value. While some of the new ideas are nice, the sense of disappointed that none of them are capitalized upon offsets any good they do, while the story is nothing you couldn't explain in a single Tweet.

Despite being in development for eight or more years, Dragon Marked for Death could have actually used more time in the oven. I'm sure there is a great game buried somewhere in there but between its lack of balance, less-than-ideal controls, boring levels, and unfortunate co-op requirements, the end product isn't nearly up to the level of the rest of Inti Creates's catalog.

Color Commando has initial shades of fun, but it's basically over before it starts.

For a game about properly communicating your emotions in order to find success, the developer did a poor job of conveying its own desires to the player. The Act is a rough relationship that woos with visual charm, connects through some fantastic, emotional moments, but leaves the player a bit high and dry, in the end. There might not be another game like it, but there are better fish in the sea out there, even for a romantic gamer.

There is so much heart and so many great ideas in Nefarious that I want to see it as a better game than it is. I want to be able to recommend it as a hidden gem in Steam’s massive collection of throwback indie titles. But I can’t. It’s a sloppy game that feels in many respects half-done. All the heart in the world can’t make up for something that just isn’t fun to play.

I appreciate what Squanch Games is doing in the industry as a whole, but Trover Saves the Universe was a much better distillation of Roiland and company's humor in a sounder package.

Despite some annoying issues, NCAA 13's biggest problem is that the core mechanics are simply dulled by the franchise's repeat performances.

Atomic Ninjas isn't really a bad game, nor is it a good one. It just sort of exists. What the title does it does competently, but there's not enough options or variety to warrant many matches, unless you're absolutely dying for some multiplayer brawling on the cheap. It's inoffensive and fun, but like the radiation, only in small doses.

Gotham City Impostors desperately wants to be a freemium game, that much is evident. The gameplay is functional without being exceptional, and the focus is placed entirely on personalization at a price -- be it time or money.

You could do worse — there are still two fun games here — but you could do better. I always applaud when old games become more widely available, but I prefer it when they go the extra mile to present a definitive version. This isn’t the definitive version of either game, so I hope you’re happy with just a version.

Like the meh Terminator project before it, if you're really craving something substantial from the Alien IP, you might like to blow apart some creatures here.

The Doodler is still cute, and kids might love frolicking around the camera for five bucks, so if you have children, this could occupy their time until they get frustrated with it. For everyone else though, stay far away unless controller support is patched in at some point -- and even then, it's probably best you stay far away anyways.

On top of the technical issues, there's barely anything new that's been added here to justify another purchase. It's a shame, because I really enjoyed the original Ninja Gaiden 2 and Sigma 2.

As it is, this is a game with a disposable single-player campaign, multiplayer matches that crash or disconnect as often as they complete, and a slew of fantastic mechanics that only rise to the surface in a single game mode out of a half-dozen...If there was ever a game to take a "wait and see" approach to, it's For Honor.

Dragon Fantasy Book 1 is a bit of a drag. I like the main characters well enough, but I'm not particularly interested in the glibly presented story or world, and some of the retro JRPG systems are super aggravating or simply mind-numbing.

Sunset struggles with pacing, technical performance (movement is a tad wonky and it can run sluggish), and a disconnect between how its lead is written and, occasionally, what she does, player depending.

X-Blades is a game that most people will be right to ignore. It offers nothing of substance, and the problems are so vast that a lot needs to be forgiven in order for any fun to be had. Hardcore action fans will definitely get a rental from what can be a decent experience, but those with short tempers, refined tastes or something important to do with their lives will want to steer clear.

If you're a diehard LEGO fan, odds are you'll get some form of enjoyment out of The Chase Begins. For everyone else, you're better off skipping it entirely, or picking up the superior Wii U version of the game. It's one thing to pare down an experience on a portable: it's another to sacrifice its integrity in the process.

I gave Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered a fair chance to win me over, but I feel the same way I did when I played it back in 2011: underwhelmed. It’s just now, all these years later, I’m a lot better at analyzing its problems and communicating them. It doesn’t help that the remaster is barely a remaster at all. The buddy relationship between Johnson and Garcia as well as Garcia’s devotion to Paula have their charm, and the dick jokes do a lot of heavy lifting. However, it’s difficult to get over just how grey and humdrum the underworld is.

Sonic Superstars is a game that understands the broad strokes of 16-bit Sonic games, but not any of the finer details. The new ideas it brings to the table are undercooked, and its multiplayer component is too poorly utilized to recommend. There are undoubtedly moments of genius here when everything lines up just right. But any goodwill I had for the game was ruined by the tedious, arduous boss battles. If you’re a Sonic fan who has thoroughly mastered the classics, you may find some entertainment here. But you deserve so much better than this.

hack//G.U. Last Recode's intended audience is almost certainly established fans. It's a solid remaster that looks great and runs smoothly. But it's still a dated JRPG that dominates dozens of hours with sub-par combat and repetitive beats. If you have never experienced The World, it's unlikely that Last Recode will pull you in. For those that never wanted to log out, it's a decent way to reconnect.

It's a shame because sometimes, even when I'm fighting the game, I'm enjoying myself.

It doesn't add anything drastically new to the genre, and thus there isn't much reason why you should get it when titles like Galactic Civilization II are better and cheaper, or the contemporary Endless Space -- for all its flaws -- offers a more unique take on the 4X experience.

At the very least, the Switch version needed more time in the oven. Bugs. Bugs everywhere. Some of them required me to restart the software, and the opening load screen takes an ungodly amount of time to get all its cats herded. Even without them, Cat Cafe Manager controls like absolute garbage, it’s dangerously unbalanced, and the UI needed another pass. But it lets you pick up a raccoon off the street and pass it off as a cat, so at least it allows you to show the appropriate amount of contempt for your customers.

If you're incredibly desperate for a sidescroller, then Blade Kitten will waste a handful of hours for you, and might even scratch your itch. You really would have to make sure there's nothing else left to play before considering opening your wallet for this, though.

The prologue is an amazing experience and the game itself, while drastically different, still kept my friends and I coming back. But it's not a good game. There are too many bugs and mishandled mechanics holding it back, in addition to a huge bait-and-switch on story and lore. I do think there is a lot of potential here, as The Blackout Club fills an empty void in the market, but dang it's just so disappointing in its current state.

Forced Showdown is a game that left very little impact on me. I played it, it was a game, and I understood every part of it. The parts come together nicely, but aren't mechanically deep at all. Combat is simple, even with the card system at play, the structure is extremely repetitive, and everything else just falls in line around that.

It's noble that Smashing the Battle was built around VR -- at the launch of the Oculus Rift, no less -- but it ultimately feels like a free-to-play game and not a $20 brawler. It's no surprise this was originally slated as a mobile title. [Reviewed with Oculus Rift]

Starblood Arena gets a lot of things right, but it failed to pull me into its world and feels dated on arrival.

The good news is that AIPD supports up to four players locally, so if you have three other friends who are die-hard shmup fans, it's worth checking out. Otherwise you can steer clear and pick up the heap of other great shooters on Steam or PS4. Those platforms have no shortage of them.

You'll get at least an hour's worth of play time out of it, and you might even go back for one or two stages. There really isn't anything this game does, however, that hasn't been done better, and on far less advanced consoles.

Danger Zone 2 isn’t a bad game, but it falls apart under the weight of its technical issues. If there wasn’t already a better version of this game by the same devs (disregarding the Burnout series), I might be more forgiving of some of these flaws. I simply can’t ignore the shortcomings, though.

A humble game for a humble premise.

The artwork is splendid, the music should be on rotation on my iPhone, and, barring a few bugs, the easy-to-grasp point-and-click gameplay works. Its issues lie in the writing, the element that should be the glue that holds the package together. Its lightweight, cornball comedy opts for cheap and easy jokes I never really find funny.

A Long Journey to an Uncertain End is just such a well-intentioned game that it’s a shame that it’s so limp where it counts. You rarely see its sensitive approach to difficult topics in video games. Yet, when it’s time to engage with it as a player, it falls into a heap on the floor. The cast of characters and narrative themes help elevate it above simply being average, but it’s hard to get over the nauseating sting of disappointment when you discover that A Long Journey to an Uncertain End isn’t quite where it could or should be.

Onechanbara Z2: Chaos could have been decent, but it seems content to revel in mediocrity.

The lack of depth hurts Foul Play the most, and it's really a shame considering how brilliant the aesthetic is. I wanted to run around the stage, but playing the game made me exit stage left.

A mixed bag. Even though it makes good on rejuvenating the sniper rifle in videogames and giving players creative ways to fortify their location, it buries it all in one of the worst stealth games to come around in years. But, if you are the type of patient player that can look past a game's flaws, you may find an enjoyable Nazi testicle shooting gallery in V2.

Its biggest problem? The three planets are different enough (ice, desert, and gas), but the missions within aren't.

Reef Shot could have been much, much more than what is offered. As a first-person adventure game, it does little to stimulate the player to keep pressing on, except perhaps to hopefully see more fish variety.

A decent enough game for those who enjoyed the first and want a harmless time waster. Compared to the original, however, Chaos Rings Omega is significantly lacking. It copies mechanics, re-uses assets, and mimics the entire plot of the first game, but it lacks the originality and surprisingly original characters that allowed the first to be a charmer.

Having an extended campaign with some really out-there storylines would have been a fantastic use of paid DLC, but for now you're stuck just doing the same errands over and over or restarting once again.